Knife-sharpener.



Patented May I3, 1902-.

A. M. 'McLEBAN'.

. KNIF E SHARPENER.

(Application filed. June 10, 1901.)

(No maul) jm/erziar; fill/0rd M/W Leran UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALVORD :MJ'MOLERAN, OF ROSEDALE, KANSAS. A

KNlFE-SHARPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 699,890, dated May 13, 1902.

Application filed June 10, 1901.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALVORD M. MOLERAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rosedale, in the county of Wyandotte and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knife-Sharpeners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to knife-sharpeners, and more especially to that class whereby a knife is sharpened by drawing it longitudinally between a pair of sharpening-blades of suitable material; and my object is to produce a device of this character which in sharpening bevels the blade accurately and uniformly and maintains such bevel in subsequent operations, thereby making it possible to keep the blade always sharp by simply drawing it through the device once or twice at frequent intervals-say every day or two. A further object is to produce a device of this character which can be easily and quickly attached to or removed from a table or the woodwork of a room, which is simple, strong,

and durable, and which can'be manufactured cheaply.

With iheseobjects in view theinvention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the ac; companying drawings, in which t Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a knife-sharpener embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same, taken on line II 11. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device. Fig. 4 is a detached perspective view of the file orsharpening-blades of the: device. Fig. 5 is an edge view of a modified construction of the device.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, 1 designates a base provided centrally with a wood-screw 2, to be screwed into a table or other woodwork, and provided at its opposite side with a pair of approximately semicircular arms 3, which may be integrally constructed with base 1 or may be independently constructed and hinged together and to the base, as shown at 4. In the former case they are tempered to possess the desired resiliency, for a purpose which hereinafter appears, and

Serial No. 63,914. (No model.)

in either case are provided at their free end with longitudinallyegroovedframes 5 to receive and hold thefiles or sharpening-blades, hereinafter described.

In the modified construction shown in Fig. 5, where the curved arms 3 are pivoted to the base, the frames at theirfree ends are held together with a yieldingpressure by means of a curved spring 6, which has its ends engaging notches 7, formed in the outer sides and near the lower ends-of said frames.

To prevent any possibility of the files or sharpening-blades 7 and 8 slipping or working their way clear through the grooved frames 5 in the operation of sharpening a knife, said frames converge inwardly and the blades are correspondingly shaped, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 1, and the upper edges of the blades at their inner sides are beveled, as at 9, so asto provide a flaring mouth or chamberv toact as a guide for the quick and easyinsertionof the knife-blade therein. As the insertion of'theknife-blade between said sharpening blades tends to force the latter apart, it'is essential in order to properly sharpen the'knife-blade that the grinding-faces of the sharpening-blades shall not only converge inwardly, but shall also intersect or cross each other, so that whatever distance the knife-blade penetrates between the sharpening-blades the latter shall.

always present at their points of intersection a perfectly sharp edge, and therefore bevel the-edge of the knife-blade correspondingly. To produce this inwardly converging and interse'cting relation of the grin ding-faces of the sharpening-blades, they are providedat their inner sides with longitudinal ribslO, the outer ends of which formpart of the beveled surfaces 9, hereinbefore referred to. Said ribs convergingly inward, but intersect and cross each other.

For sharpening bread and meat knives,

which need only a coarse edge, I preferably provide the ribs with obliquely extending teeth 11, substantially the same as file-teeth,

which teeth when the blades are fitted together in proper operative position extend in the same general direction and present their most abrupt faces or shoulders correspond- 5 ingly, it being necessary when sharpening a knife-blade, as at 12, Fig. 2, to draw it longitudinally between the sharpening-blades with considerable force, so that as it proceeds longitudinally it shall also gradually force its way down through the blades, and in practice it is found that the dullest kind of a knife when quickly drawn through this sharpening device two or three times, the whole operation being performed in a few seconds, is beveled to a point uniformly from one end to the other, and, due to the resilient pressure with which said sharpening-blades are held together, the bevel throughout is uniform, as the sharpening-blades follow any irregularity in the surface of the knife-blade. In all subsequent sharpening operations the device maintains the bevel produced on the knife-blade, and therefore enables the latter to be kept sharp without difliculty, all that 2 5 is necessary to keep it sharp being to draw the blade once or twice through the device at intervals of a day or two. The yielding pressure on the sharpening-blades adapts them to admit knife-blades of varying size or thickness, as such blades are almost without eX- eeption of about the same bevel, which original bevel, it should also be stated, is about the same as that imparted to the knife-blade by the device. here it is desired to puta fine edge on a knife, I provide grinding-blades constructed wholly or with their grindingsurfaces of emery, and in either case they will be formed with interlocking or intersecting longitudinal ribs, and where an extremely fine edge is de sired, as upon pocket-knives, the sharpeningblades or their ribs may be composed of hone or oil stone.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a knife-sharpener embodying the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of invention, and it is to be understood that I reserve the right to make such changes in its form, proportion, detail construction, and arrangement of the parts as properly fall within its spirit and scope.

Having thus described the invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isv 1. A knife-sharpener, comprising a base portion, a pair of arms attached thereto and provided with frames at their free ends pressed toward each other with a yielding pressure, and sharpening-blades mounted in said frames and having their grinding-surfaces intersecting or crossing each other, substantially as described.

2. A knife-sharpener, comprising a base portion, a pair of arms attached thereto and provided with frames at their free ends held pressed toward each other with a yielding pressure, and sharpening-blades mounted in said frames and having their grinding-surfaces converging with respect to each other, substantially as described.

3. A knifesharpener, comprising a base portion, apair of arms attached thereto and provided with frames at their free ends held pressed toward each other with a yielding pressure, and sharpening-blades mounted in said frames, and having their grinding-surfaces converging and intersecting or crossing each other, and beveled to provide a flaring mouth, substantially as described.

4.. A knife-sharpener, comprising a base portion, a pair of arms attached thereto and provided with frames at their free ends held pressed toward each other with a yielding pressure, and sharpening-blades mounted in said frames and provided with interlocking or overlapping ribs having their inner faces adapted to operate upon the knife to be sharp ened, substantially as described.

5. A knife-sharpener, comprising a base 0 portion, a pair of arms attached thereto and provided with frames at their free ends held pressed toward each other with a yielding pressure, and sharpening-blades mounted in said frames and provided with interlocking or overlapping ribs; said ribs having their inner faces formed with teeth which extend in the same general direction when fitted together, substantially as described.

6. A knife-sharpener, comprising a base portion, a pair of arms attached thereto and provided with frames at their free ends held pressed toward each other with a yielding pressure, and provided with longitudinal grooves of gradually-varyin g width,and sharp ening-blades corresponding in form to said grooves and fitting snugly therein, and having their inner or grinding faces converging with and intersecting each other, substan tially as described.

7. A knife-sharpener, comprising a base portion, a pair of arms attached thereto and provided with frames at their free ends held pressed toward each other with a yielding pressure, sharpening-blades mounted in said it 5' frames and having their grinding-surfaces intersecting or crossing each other, and means for attaching the device to a suitable support, substantially as described.

8. In a knife-sharpener, a pair of frames 12o held toward each other with a yielding pressure, said frames being formed at their inner too "or opposing sides with longitudinal grooves,

whose sides converge inwardly or in the di rection of the pressure applied as the knifeblade is forced down between them,and sharpening-blades of corresponding taper at their side edges and of size to fit snugly in said grooves, substantially as described.

9. In a knife-sharpener, a pair of frames 0 held toward each other with a yielding presbe held reliably in the frames, substantially 10 sure, said frames being formed at their inner as described. or opposing sides with longitudinal grooves, In testimony whereof I affix my signature whose sides converge inwardly or in the diin the presence of two witnesses.

5 rection of the pressure applied as the knifeblade is forced down between them, and also ALVORD MCLERAN inwardly toward the opposite frame, and Witnesses: sharpening-blades fitting snugly in said H. C. RODGERS,

grooves and of corresponding contour so as to G. Y. THORPE. 

